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Treating Kids for
Depression (sad or irritable, angry, pessimistic, withdrawn) Anxiety (phobias, panic, worrying, obsessive-compulsive behavior) Stress (school worries, divorce, bereavement, friendship issues) Social problems (trouble making friends, bullying issues)
What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
Research shows that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective in treating children and adolescents as well as adults. CBT is a short-term psychotherapy, which emphasizes collaboration between the child, the therapist, and often the parents. More focused than many other types of treatment, the course of therapy usually is three to six months, depending on the youth's particular issues.
The term "cognitive" refers to our thoughts, perceptions, interpretations, and beliefs. Many psychological issues are associated with habits in thinking, including biased beliefs about ourselves, others, the world around us, and the future. Our behaviors or activities in which we engage also affect our emotional state. If left unchecked, negative automatic thinking and behavior patterns can lead to feelings such as depression, stress, or anxiety.
In therapy, the child/adolescent and therapist are actively involved in identifying specific thinking and behavior patterns that may be giving rise to problems. As ingrained beliefs and contributing behaviors are revealed, new ways of perceiving, feeling, and acting can begin to take shape. The CBT Model In a Nutshell The CBT model suggests that in any given situation, there are 3 primary factors involved. One factor to consider pertains to the child/adolescent's thoughts, opinions, beliefs, expectations etc. These represent their cognitions, in other words, what is going through their mind at the time. Another factor relates to their emotional state, the feelings they have, their mood (fear, sadness, anger, embarrassment, disappointment, etc.). The third factor to consider is their behaviors or actions, what they do in a given situation. This also includes physiology (heart rate, breathing, muscle tension, etc.). While each of these can be thought of as distinct entities, they are all interrelated and have a large influence on each other. In fact, a change in any of these three factors results in changing the other two to some degree (see the diagram below). 
The child/teen's cognitions are heavily influenced by their environment, their culture, and the events they've lived through. When they are in a particular situation, it is their outlook on that event that largely determines how they will FEEL about it and what ACTION they might or might not take. Similarly their mood can flavor how they view a particular situation or how they behave. And, their behavior can influence their thoughts and emotions. Because the youth's beliefs, expectations, and general philosophy on life are so ingrained, they often feel or act in certain ways without even being aware of the cognitions that are driving their mood and behaviors. As they move through life, without even realizing it, they write their own constitution, their rule-book of life, based on their experiences. They tend to take this rule-book as fact, without questioning it. Through open ended questionning in a noncritical, safe, exploratory environment, Dr. Greenaway and your child can begin to uncover which of the child's beliefs, expectations, and behaviors are realistic and which might be causing more harm than good. Problem-solving together and periodically including parents in sessions can help the youth begin to try more adaptive, realistic ways of behaving and looking at things. In CBT, your child will have a chance to talk about his or her goals, whether it is someday becoming a marine biologist, doing well on an upcoming test, getting more friends, or feeling better. They will also be asked, at their own pace, to engage in specific techniques to help uncover their automatic thoughts, beliefs, and expectations, allowing them to mindfully decide what might be keeping them stuck. Learning new, more realistic, ways to view themselves, others, and their future in therapy as well as experimenting with new behaviors with the support of the therapist and parents may be the key to improving your child's mood, lowering anxiety, or increasing their friendships. |
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